It Takes A Village to Defeat A Hedgehog AU
by GuardianDragon98
Summary: Episode 52 AU: Shadow wouldn't really accept an invitation to join Eggman unless it was necessary. So why did he? Sonadow. Don't like, then don't read. Rated T for mentions of alcohol.


**So I've started watching Sonic Boom, and it is a fun show. Some of the puns and slapstick are a little cliché, but I like how self-aware the series is.**

**But I'll be honest, I don't like how Shadow is portrayed in the series. Kirk Thornton's a good VA for him in my book, but the writing just makes Shadow into this edgy villain-esque character. And that, for me, is an unfair disregard of his original character arc from the early Sonic games and Archie Sonic Comics.**

**So… I came up with this. Enjoy!**

**PS: This is Sonadow, by the way. Sorry to all the Sonamy fans on this show!**

**NOTE: I DO NOT OWN SONIC BOOM NOR DO I OWN ANY OF THE SONIC CHARACTERS.**

* * *

Sonic winced as one of his bruises flared up. _'Shadow really did a number on me…' _he thought, setting down on the ground the large blue cooler he'd taken out of his shack. Stretching his back, he paused for a moment to admire the sunset.

Sunsets were always more beautiful to watch after a successful day of thwarting Egghead's evil plans. And today's evil plan, which involved pretty much every other villain he and his friends had faced ganging up on them, made this sunset all the more beautiful.

Once he felt a little better and had gotten to bask in the beauty of the sunset, Sonic picked up the cooler and continued on his way to the volcano. Tails and the others were busy helping with repairs in Hedgehog Village so none of them hadn't noticed him slip away.

Which was for the best, because he was going to have a secret rendezvous.

"About time you showed up, slowpoke."

Sonic smiled at Shadow, the black hedgehog smirking as he handed him a black-and-red memory stick in exchange for the cooler. "It's got everything in there. Maps of the Doctor's lair, the latest designs for his robots, anything your team needs to gain an advantage," said Shadow as he opened the cooler, which contained a few plastic cups, bottles of cola, beer, and, to his surprise, his favorite dark whiskey.

"Where'd you get this?" Shadow held up the whiskey bottle, raising an eyebrow at the blue speedster. From what he knew, Seaside Island was, to put it mildly, kind of on the dump side. Their main restaurant was called _Meh _Burger, for crying out loud! And don't even get him started on the construction. Pretty much everything in Hedgehog Village was held together by vines, ropes, and tape.

"I know a guy," Sonic replied, smirking, grabbing a beer from the cooler. "Thanks for agreeing to do this, by the way. I bet it must have been a pain hanging out with Eggman."

"It was _torture_." Shadow grimaced, opening the whiskey bottle and pouring himself a cup. "Those team-building exercises were the worst. Just _watching _those idiots do them was agony," he told Sonic with a pointed look.

"Hey, it was worth it." Sonic gestured to the cooler and all of its liquid bounty. "You got your drinks and you got a chance to beat me up," he pointed out, rubbing his shoulder. "Win-win."

Noticing the dark bruises forming on Sonic's body, Shadow's ears lowered. "I didn't enjoy it that much," he mumbled, feeling guilty.

They'd agreed, prior to his arrival to Seaside Island, to not hold back on each other if they had needed to fight. And as much as he enjoyed getting to duel with Sonic again, Shadow couldn't help but feel like he'd gone too far. The bruises on Sonic's back alone were probably going to take a whole week to heal…

"Hey." Sonic lightly bumped shoulders with Shadow. "We both agreed to fight for real. You don't have to feel guilty for smacking me around," he reassured the biohog, who managed to crack a small smile.

"You do realize that Eggman's going to keep hiring me to beat you guys up as long as I'm here, right?" Shadow asked him.

Sonic smiled sadly. "I know. But at least we'll get to see each other more often." A faint blush formed on his cheeks. "I missed you, Shads," he admitted.

Shadow chuckled. "I missed you, too, Blue." He lightly pecked the blue hedgehog's cheek.

Sonic couldn't help but giggle as he cuddled up against Shadow. Ever since he, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles had followed Eggman to Seaside Island so they could prevent him from launching any more plans for global domination, Sonic had worried that he and Shadow wouldn't be able to maintain a long-distance relationship. But they'd worked it out, sending each other emails at least once a week and calling each other every other day.

When Shadow had called him to let him know that Eggman had invited him to join his villain posse, Sonic knew that it was the perfect opportunity to see his boyfriend again _and _get the drop on the evil doctor. Shadow, with his edgy looks and no-nonsense attitude, could easily pass off as a villain. The fact that he was a government agent also made him the perfect mole.

And Eggman was too busy fanboying over Shadow to even notice.

Still, it had been hard to pretend that they hated each other. Even when they traded blows, Sonic and Shadow felt the guilt over every punch and kick. The thought of having to do it all over again, to go head-to-head the next time Eggman hatched another scheme, was worrying.

But they could worry about it another day. Right now, they were together and that was enough.

"You think we should tell them? About us?" Sonic murmured, resting his head against Shadow's shoulder.

"It's too soon." Shadow wrapped his arm around the blue speedster. "The whole village probably hates me at this point. If I suddenly showed up, your friends will chase me out," he told him, nuzzling Sonic who sighed and took a large gulp of beer.

"Well if they do, then they'll have to chase me out, too. I can't stand this place sometimes," said Sonic, grabbing a cola from the cooler. He was going to regret his decisions in the morning but, at the moment, he didn't care.

Noticing the sudden change in his boyfriend's mood, Shadow tightened his grip. "You could just leave. You can move back to the mainland with me. Rouge has a couple of rooms available in her club," he suggested.

"Tempting." Sonic finished the rest of his beer and washed it down with cola. "But who will stop Eggman?" he asked him.

"You told me in one of your emails that your friends could handle themselves just fine without you." Shadow's eyes had a hard glint in them. "Did they _really _tie you to a tree just because of your running?" he asked.

"It was more on me giving them headaches. Turns out my running generates this loud noise that gives everyone migraines." Sonic chuckled but it was a bitter one. "I even went to Eggman for help. He was nicer to me than they were… even if his solution to my problem ended up being a trap," he admitted.

Sometimes Sonic didn't get his friends. Sure, they all worked together to defeat Eggman on a daily basis and they had fun doing it. But, lately, it felt like they were slowly pushing him out of their circle.

Whenever he thought about that time when his friends took a picture together after taking down some of Eggman's bots on their own while he just stayed tied up to that tree, unable to join them and celebrate their victory, his heart ached.

When he was bored and didn't have anything better to do, he would always try and reach out to them only to get told that they were busy or just didn't feel like hanging with him. He would take any criticism Amy gave him with a smile or a joke even when, deep down inside, it actually hurt to hear one of his closest friends berate him for anything he did wrong.

He loved his friends, really. They'd been through almost everything together through all these years and had faced countless threats head-on as a team.

So why did it feel like he was being pushed away?

Sonic was brought out of his depressing thoughts by Shadow running his hand through his quills. He purred, leaning against his lover's side, relaxing. "Sometimes I just tell myself to not care about anything," he said.

"I've tried that," Shadow chuckled, the hand he'd placed on Sonic's shoulder reaching up to lightly rub one blue ear. "But I would recommend group therapy," he suggested.

"Sure. Once a therapist arrives on this island, I'll sign us all up," Sonic joked, sighing as Shadow rubbed his ear.

Shadow smiled warmly at him. Even when he was feeling down, Sonic still managed to crack a joke to make others laugh. Honestly, the blue hero's selflessness knew no bounds. He could get banished, ridiculed, sued, and would still fight to protect anyone from Eggman. Then again, that had always been the way Sonic dealt with the world. In spite of anyone trying to bring him down, he valued other people's freedom and strove to protect it even at the cost of his own.

It was just one of the many things that made Shadow love Sonic in the first place.

"Well, for now, forget about your friends and Eggman." Shadow grabbed a couple more beers from the cooler and poured himself and Sonic two cups of whiskey. Then he looked down at the volcano's magma-filled pit. "You think it was a good idea for us to come here and drink?" he asked, tilting his head at Sonic.

"Nope, but I don't care." Sonic took his cup of whiskey and lightly tapped it against Shadow's. "I'll gladly get wasted and jump into a volcano with you any day," he said, grinning.

* * *

They stayed at the volcano until the moon and stars came out. When Sonic started giggling and actually _tried _to jump into the volcano, Shadow knew that it was time to bring his boyfriend home.

"Awwww, come oooonnnn, Shhhhaaaadddsss… I can go home by myself…" Sonic slurred, stumbling around while Shadow kept a firm grip on his waist as they walked. "What if someone sees ya…?" he hiccupped.

"I'll take my chances. You are too drunk to head home by yourself," Shadow told him, silently thanking his creator for making him with enough Chaos Energy powerful enough to destroy any alcohol in his body before it affected him. He'd left the cooler back at the volcano and would pick it up later as it still had some drinks.

Sonic giggled, a dopey grin on his face. "You're the beeessst boyfriend everrrr…" he crooned.

"I know," Shadow replied, rolling his eyes and smiling fondly at him.

They arrived at Sonic's hut and snuck in. Sonic was already beginning to get drowsy, a yawn escaping from his fawn lips. "I'm gonna be sooo hungover tomorrow…" he groaned, eyelids drooping.

"A small price to pay," Shadow said, one arm going under Sonic's legs to lift him up bridal-style. He carried Sonic over to his hammock and set him down on it, smoothing down his quills. "I'll keep you updated on Eggman's plans. You just get some sleep," he murmured, pressing his lips to Sonic's forehead, then turned to leave.

"Wait…"

Sonic sat up and lightly tugged at Shadow's hand, the black-and-red hedgehog turning back to face him. Reaching out, Sonic pulled Shadow into a hug. "I love you. I'm so glad you're here…" he mumbled, burying his face into Shadow's chest fur. "Not the alcohol talkin' by the way… I mean it…" he added, his voice muffled.

Chuckling, Shadow cupped Sonic's face in his hands. "I love you, too," he whispered before pressing his lips against Sonic's, relishing in the taste of whiskey and soda lingering on the blue hedgehog's lips. After about a minute, Shadow pulled back to gaze into emerald eyes about to close. "I'll see you soon, Sonic."

Sonic smiled sleepily as he lay down. Shadow teleporting away is the last thing he sees before falling asleep.

* * *

"HEY SONIC!"

"Gaaaahhh!" Sonic screamed, bolting upright on his hammock, before clutching his head. Bleary-eyed, he noticed Knuckles standing over him. "Knux, volume…" he groaned, staggering to his feet.

"Sorry. It's just that we haven't seen you since yesterday." Knuckles shuffled his feet, letting the hero have his space. "You missed a killer party last night! There were chili dogs, Meh Burgers galore, and I even got to DJ!" he exclaimed, still giddy from last night's celebration.

"That sounds nice…" mumbled Sonic, shuffling over to the sink to drink. _'Note to self: never drink whiskey, beer, and soda all in one sitting,' _he thought as he let the water flow into his mouth.

That's when Tails entered the hut, clutching a bouquet of flowers. He took one look at his hedgehog brother drinking water right out of the faucet and sighed.

"Don't judge me," Sonic deadpanned, rinsing his mouth with a final gulp.

"We couldn't find you after Eggman left. Where were you?" asked Tails, tapping his foot on the floor.

"I had errands to run," Sonic replied, rubbing his forehead. Maybe after a couple more hours of sleep, he wouldn't feel so hungover.

Seeing that Sonic was in no mood to play 20 Questions with him, Tails shrugged. "Well, at least you're okay." He walked over to Sonic and handed him the bouquet. "By the way, somebody left this on the windowsill for you," he said.

Perking up a little, Sonic took the bouquet. Blue and red periwinkles were arranged and tied together daintily with a gold ribbon, a small card with his name written on it.

Hangover suddenly diminishing, Sonic grinned and set about getting a vase to put the flowers in while Tails and Knuckles watched with confused expressions.

"Is it Valentine's Day?" Knuckles asked Tails, who shook his head and said, "No."

"His birthday?"

"No, Knuckles. That was two months ago."

"Arbor Day?"

"Definitely not."

Sonic paid them no mind, humming a little tune as he arranged the flowers in the vase. Placing them on the windowsill, he looked out the window.

And he smiled when he saw a black hedgehog with red stripes smiling back at him, hiding in the shadows.

* * *

**Okay, so in this AU one-shot, Shadow isn't a villain or an overly-edgy emo character. He's more of a mole, spying on Eggman and reporting any of the Doctor's weaknesses to Sonic so his team could have the advantage. And, yes, he and Sonic are in a relationship.**

**This was quite fun to write. I might make a follow up to this someday :) **

**Until then, read and review!**

**-GuardianDragon98**


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